Spin Doctor
by LAKenobi
Summary: Claudia, an Australian student with a mysterious past, joins the NIH team and gets a crash course in media manipulation from her cousin, Eva Rossi. Runs parallel to the existing series.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Spin Doctor

**Author:** LAKenobi

**Rating:** PG

**Summary:** Claudia, a journalism student with a mysterious past, joins the NIH team and gets a crash course in media manipulation from her cousin, Eva Rossi. Runs parallel to the existing series.

**Disclaimer:** Medical Investigation was created by Jason Horwitch and produced by NBC and Paramount with absolutely no input from me whatsoever.

* * *

"Identification, please."

Stifling a yawn (the lingering effects of jetlag), Claudia Alessio dug a hand into her jeans pocket and pulled out a black passport. The jaded security guard squinted at the kangaroo and emu on the front and raised his eyebrows. "Australia, huh?" he said, emphasising the first syllable in a way that reeked American. "Pretty far from home, aren't you? You here on business?" The guard looked Claudia up and down, most likely taking in her casual appearance and checking it with the grave-looking passport photo.

"Sort of," said Claudia, wondering if she should have invested in a dress suit. "I'm meeting Eva Rossi from Press Relations."

"Alright, Ms… Alessio. Here's your visitor pass. Have a nice day."

When Claudia finally made it into the building, a face she vaguely remembered from photographs greeted her.

"Claudia?" Eva Rossi flicked her dark hair behind her ear and leaned towards Claudia, dazzling her with a row of even white teeth. "I'm Eva." She held out her hand.

"Hi," said Claudia, shaking it. "Nice to finally meet you properly."

"You've grown so much," said Eva. "I remember when I was about 10 years old and my mom came into my room to tell me Aunt Sara and Uncle Mat had had a little girl in Australia. And you were, what, seven when you last came to visit my parents?"

"Yeah, it's been a while."

"You get here alright? How was your flight?"

"Long."

Eva smiled. "I can imagine. I've always wanted to go to Australia though. How… How are your parents?"

Claudia glanced down and shuffled her feet on the spot. "As well as can be expected, I guess."

"I… I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

Claudia looked up and shrugged. "No, it's alright," she said with a tight smile. "So where are we headed, cuz?"

Eva looked visibly relieved. "Come with me."

Claudia followed Eva through the maze of endless halls, trying her best to absorb her surroundings. She wondered what it would be like to be trapped here at night, imprisoned by frosty walls and unknown killer diseases without so much as another inmate to keep you company. A small involuntary shiver escaped her.

"Come on. Let me introduce you to the team."

Claudia blinked as Eva guided her into a laboratory. Three people – a brunette with straight shoulder length hair wearing a white lab coat and leaning over a microscope; a casually dressed young man with dark tousled hair holding a thick textbook; and an older African-American man with a mobile phone against his ear all looked up as Claudia and Eva entered.

"Connor's on the way," said the African-American, hanging up the phone. "Who's this?"

"This is my cousin from Australia, Claudia Alessio," said Eva. "Claudia, this is Frank Powell; Dr Natalie Durant; and Dr Miles McCabe. Dr McCabe's new too; he's only been here three weeks."

Claudia shook hands with them and exchanged pleasantries.

"Claudia's going to be with us at NIH for awhile," Eva went on. "Well, with me mostly. I've made arrangements with the Director."

"Have you made arrangements with Connor?" asked Powell, with a smirk.

Eva blushed, a hint that she hadn't, as Powell started to chuckle. Claudia bit her lip, wondering who this Connor guy was and how he was going to react to the sudden presence of a girl he had never seen or heard of.

"So Claudia, what brings you to NIH?" asked Dr Durant.

"Well, Dad's working in Baltimore at the moment," said Claudia carefully. "And I always wanted to visit the States, so I deferred my journalism course for a semester and followed him." She gestured towards her cousin with a smile. "Figured I might be able use some of my connections and get a little bit of work experience in and Eva agreed to help me out. Plus I think Dad's hoping I ditch the whole journalism idea for something that pays a little better. How's public relations?"

Eva laughed. "Yeah, I've been the struggling reporter. Someone's out to get you no matter which side of the fence you're on."

"Alright, people! Chopper's ready! Get moving!" Claudia jumped a little as a pale-haired man marched into the lab, rapping out orders. The others scrambled to their feet and towards the door.

"Stephen—" began Eva.

"Eva, we don't have time for…" The pale-haired man squinted his impossibly blue eyes at Claudia. "Who the hell are you?" he barked.

"Uh, I-I'm… Claudia. Claudia Alessio," she stammered. "I'm…"

"She's my cousin. She's doing work experience with us," Eva explained. "Claudia, um, meet Dr Stephen Connor."

"Why wasn't I told about this?" Connor demanded. "The last thing we need is some greenhorn getting in the way!"

"Sir, she won't be in the way, she'll be with me," said Eva.

"Well, _you_ are coming to New York City with us," said Connor, glaring at her. "What about her?"

"With all due respect, sir," Claudia said slowly, "I just want to learn about how things work in the real world, and I'm not going to learn anything standing around an empty office for God knows how long."

Connor frowned down towards Claudia and pursed his lips. He sighed. "Keep your head down. I don't want to see or hear from you." He looked back at Eva. "Or it'll be _your_ head."

Connor turned marched on past the rest of his team. "Why are you all standing around? We've got a job to do!"

* * *

**A/N:** Started this a long time ago and recently stumbled across it again on my hard drive. Leave some reviews if you're interested in seeing me continue it.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Thanks to SassyCop for review and giving me the OK to continue. I'm not 100% sure where this is going but we can all find out together. :P

* * *

Claudia couldn't believe it. Two days ago she'd been on a plane from Australia. This morning she had been trying to get her bearings in Bethesda. Now she was in a helicopter above one of the most populous cities in the world with a team of medical investigators. Claudia had listened in as much as she could while absorbing the view from the chopper; a novelty the others had evidently gotten used to. Apparently two people had literally turned blue and collapsed in New York City. It would be a hell of a story to write home about, that was for sure.

Claudia pressed her face against the window as they touched down on the helipad on top of St Jerome's Hospital.

Meanwhile, Dr Connor had made it pretty clear who was boss the entire helicopter ride over and didn't let up once they landed.

"Eva!" he hollered, as Claudia scampered out to catch up with the group while trying to stay out of Connor's vision. "Check the other hospitals. If any other blue people show up—"

"They'll be brought here right away," Eva finished.

"And don't forget—"

"No press. I'm on it."

Claudia jogged into step with Eva as Connor's voice carried on behind them.

"Powell! Something has to link these two people. Same families, same apartment, same food, same drug use…"

"Start where they live and move up from there," Claudia heard Powell intone.

"And see if there's been any hazardous spills in the area!"

"Is he always so… brash?" asked Claudia when she was confident they were out of earshot.

Eva grinned. "Sure. But with a job like this, someone has to be." She touched Claudia lightly on the shoulder. "You get used to it. He's a nice guy, really."

"Does he wear contacts or are those really his eyes?"

Eva giggled, before pausing thoughtfully. "I'm not sure, actually. Anyway, come on. We've got some anti-journalism work to take care of."

**####**

Eva Rossi was a beautiful, attractive woman – and she knew it.

It wasn't a difficult conclusion for Claudia to come to as she watched her cousin lean towards the charmed orderly behind the desk.

"Try having two bosses," Eva was saying. "I've got the director back in D.C. who's very straight-laced. And then on the road I've got this other guy."

Claudia imagined the orderly trying to peak down Eva's top and wasn't sure whether to be impressed or sick.

"Which is why I need your help," Eva continued. "I'll alert the other ERs. If anymore blue people show up, you call me and I'll take them upstairs. The whole thing can be really hush-hush."

The orderly probably wanted to call Eva for reasons other than the arrival some Smurf patients.

"I gotta be able to say where this order is coming from," he said.

Eva flicked open her ID with a bright smile. "NIH, press relations. You can always blame Washington."

Claudia suppressed a laugh as the orderly grinned back, wondering if he really believed he had a shot with Eva.

It was a more experienced looking nurse who next faced Eva's charm.

"I can take the notification of family members off your hands. Just for the blue people," said Eva. "Just, you know, make your life easier." She offered another friendly smile.

"A bureaucrat who cares!" the nurse replied with a hint of dry amusement, as she handed over the relevant folders.

As they walked away, Claudia heard a man announce: "Eric Novak, New York Examiner. I'd like to talk to the doctor in charge."

Claudia widened her eyes at Eva. They turned back to see the back of a man in a brown suit standing in the same spot they had been just seconds earlier.

"What's this about, Mr Novak?" asked the nurse.

"New Yorkers turning blue," Novak replied, and Claudia saw Eva's painted lips purse into a thin line. "Public has a right to know if this is a serious, possibly terrorist crisis you're covering up here."

"We'll see about that," Eva muttered under her breath as she huffed away.

As they headed back to the office that served as their temporary headquarters, Claudia felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She pulled it out and unlocked the keypad to find a new text message.

It was from her father.

"Hi princess. How is everything?" it read.

Claudia blinked. All things considered, it was a pretty stupid question. Mentally, Claudia flashed through the events that had led her to this point… but when she hit reply, all she typed was "Good".

She hit send, put the phone away and quickened her pace to catch up with Eva.

* * *

**A/N:** I don't know if anyone's still keeping tabs on this fandom but reviews are love. I'm trying to gradually slip in a backstory for Claudia without giving too much away too soon. It might end up being a subplot in itself later, depending on whether or not my half-baked ideas work out or not.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Thanks to Rugbygirrl and SassyCop for the reviews. Nice to know there are people who still care about MI enough to watch me faff around with with an OC. :P

* * *

In her one-word text message, Claudia had deliberately avoided saying anything that called for a response, in the hope that there wouldn't be any more exchanges. Deep down, she knew her father was trying, in his own emotionally crippled way, to make things up to her, but it was a distraction she didn't feel like right now. Part of her felt like being in America with him was a betrayal to her mother.

Claudia shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts, and turned to Eva. "What are you going to do about the journo?"

"Lead him away from the story."

"How?"

"My Italian charisma." Eva smirked, and Claudia wondered if her cousin was really going to go down the flirting route again or whether she was simply poking fun at her earlier antics with the orderly. Before she could ask, Dr Connor approached Eva with a new job.

"Regarding the notification of family members… Wes Douglas's only family is a daughter," Connor said quietly. "Find her. It's… He's… critical."

Though Connor made a point of ignoring Claudia's presence like he had ever since they left NIH that morning, Claudia noticed his cold blue eyes soften for the first time since they'd met. There was a sorrowful, pleading desperation in the doctor's face that made him seem like an entirely different person to the jerk barking orders at anything that moved.

"I'm on it, sir," said Eva, gently.

**####**

From the safety of their office, Claudia peaked through the open blinds at Dr Connor and Dr Durant out in the corridor. Connor had rediscovered his harsh demeanour, shoving a notepad into Durant's arms after a tense conversation about the condition of their blue patients.

"Uh-oh, looks like he's about to hand somebody their head," Eva remarked to Frank Powell, as she waited for a response from the other end of the phone pressed to her ear.

"Very _Re-Animator_," Frank replied.

"Very what?" asked Claudia.

Frank looked over his shoulder where Claudia was standing against the window. "80s comedy horror _classic_," he explained enthusiastically. "A little before your time but it's an excellent flick. You should rent it sometime. Or download it or whatever you kids do these days."

"I've never really been a horror girl," Claudia admitted. "I mean, I used to wet myself whenever I saw the Thriller video."

Frank chuckled. Claudia smiled sheepishly.

"Can I just ask," said Eva, "Why are you obsessed with horror movies when your day job pretty much _is_ a horror movie?"

"'Cause I love my work!"

"Alright, listen up!" Connor's voice came booming into the room as he and Durant entered. "We have nine patients out there. They all have something in common. Tell me what it is, and don't say they're all blue!"

"It's not in their homes," said Frank. "There's no gas leaks, no odours, there's nothing rotten in their fridges or pantries. No neighbours show any symptoms. But check this out." He tapped a key on the laptop in front of him, and Eva and Connor moved towards him. Claudia managed to look over Frank's head at a 3D diagram on the screen, highlighting part of New York City. "Six of the patients live within three blocks of each other," Frank continued. "Two work close by but what doesn't connect is the ninth lives and works in Brooklyn."

"The pattern still holds," Connor declared. "The ninth was there for some other reason. It's something in those six square blocks so go back and start again."

"Where they live is a dead end," Frank protested.

"Then it's where they work," Connor retorted condescendingly. "Where they play chess, where they get their groceries, where they do their laundry, where they get a massage—"

"Stephen—" Dr Durant began.

"Where they talk to their shrink, I don't care!" Connor finished, yelling now.

"I'm ordering dinner," said Durant, calmly but firmly. "You got that blood sugar thing going on again." She lightly touched his arm on her way out. Claudia got the impression that Durant played pacifist a lot where Connor was concerned. _Charms to soothe a savage beast_. Claudia started to grin slyly, but quickly checked herself before Connor saw her and blew up again. No need to rock the boat on her first day by trying to explain to the volatile doc what was so funny.

Then again, Durant had sent Dr McCabe away on another case in Virginia, but Connor didn't seem to have noticed yet, so perhaps Claudia could have gotten away with a good smirk.

Connor's piercing eyes turned their attention to Eva. "How you doing with the press?" he asked.

"Quiet as mice, sir," Eva lied, taking a nervous sip from her mug. Seemingly satisfied, Connor left the room, taking the thick air of tension with him.

**####**

Claudia sat on a stiff couch as Eva paced up and down, phone glued to her ear. She had found that patient Wes's daughter, but Claudia detected a hint of frustration in her cousin's voice. She looked up as Frank and Connor entered the room.

"It's a building they have in common," Frank was saying. "Local diner, big breakfast crowd. Every patient ate there in the past 12 hours."

"No, it can't be food poisoning; the symptoms are all wrong," Connor objected. "Plus, we'd be talking about a big crowd; there'd be a lot more cases than this."

"Look, I don't know what happened but I know where. This is your building." Frank pointed to the laptop screen, as Eva snapped her phone shut. Claudia stood up instinctively, sensing something was wrong.

"That was Wes Douglas's daughter," said Eva, approaching the rest of the team. "I told her her father was in a critical condition. She said she had nothing to say to him and hung up the phone."

Connor stared at Frank, who turned to Dr Durant, who looked at the floor. Claudia swallowed uncomfortably, thinking about her own strained relationship with her parent, as well as the blue man in the hospital ward who was about to die alone.

Lost in her thoughts, Claudia jumped when Eva placed her hands on her shoulders. "Sorry," Eva whispered. "But we have to… make sure the press stays quiet. Come on."

* * *

**A/N:** I think I might be treading a fine line between being tantalising and annoying when it comes to what Claudia's deal is. I could do a big info dump now but I'd rather it play out the way it would on a TV show, through dialogue and actions over the course of the series. Reviews are love.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** Thanks to Rugbygirrl for the review. This is my quickest turnaround between chapters so far, but it's Australia Day and I wasn't keen on sitting by the foreshore all day waiting for fireworks or getting accosted by drunks at a party, so I just watched the cricket and wrote stuff. :P

* * *

They found the reporter, Eric Novak out in the lobby talking to his editor on the phone. Eva settled onto the seat next to Novak's bag while Claudia leaned against the wall a few feet away and busied herself with a game of Snake on her phone. All the instructions Eva had given were: "We don't know each other. Play along." So when Novak tossed his phone onto his bag and went across to the water fountain and Eva slipped the phone to Claudia, she quickly hid it in her spare pocket before Novak could finish his drink and return.

Novak sat down beside Eva, glancing down the length of her smooth legs before meeting her eye. "Don't you hate hospitals?" he said.

"Hate," Eva agreed.

Novak turned to his bag and stopped. Eva glanced at Claudia. Claudia nodded silently and went back to staring at her game.

"That's weird," she heard Novak say. "Just put my phone down. Did you see it?"

"Your phone?" Eva said innocently. "Sorry." She shot another quick glance in Claudia's direction, before slowly removing her jacket to reveal a pink singlet top that showed off all the right places. Bringing out the big guns now, thought Claudia, wondering if she could ever be so bold.

It wasn't long before Novak gave up his search for the missing phone and began to engage the gorgeous woman beside him in conversation. Twirling her hair and giggling every so often, Eva spun an elaborate story about abandoning college to travel the world before moving back in with a father who had a poor heart.

"I used to sunbathe topless, sometimes even naked," Eva said dreamily, recalling a Greek island in such detail that Claudia wondered if the story was actually true. "And nobody ever cared."

Novak laughed. "Well, why would they?" he said, gesturing at her lithe frame. "Hey, you wanna grab some dinner?" After a short pause, he scrambled: "No, I'm sorry, that was, um, a jerk thing to say 'cause I know your dad's upstairs recovering from surgery and I'm asking you out…"

"It's okay, I'd like to have dinner with you," said Eva, quickly jumping up. A little too quickly, Claudia thought nervously. "So uh, what do you feel like?"

"Oh, I didn't mean tonight," said Novak. "What about your dad?"

"Well he's recovering like you said, and a girl's gotta eat, right?"

Novak's face settled somewhere between a sneer and a smirk. "You know, whatever's upstairs must be one hell of a scoop for you to go to all this trouble," he snapped, and Claudia cringed. "Who do you work for?"

Her jacket now safely back on, Eva crossed her arms, shedding the act. "Leave this one alone, Mr Novak. When it's safe to give you this story, I promise you'll be the first one I call."

Novak stood up. "Well, that's touching. Now give me my phone back. 'Cause I'm gonna file this story with or without your help."

"Fine. Meet me here in 20 minutes. I'll give you your phone and your story." She stormed off.

Cheeks burning and hoping Novak wouldn't notice, Claudia wondered what to do. If she followed Eva, she would have to walk past Novak, who would likely realise that they were together and corner her. His phone felt like a gold bar in her pocket.

Claudia glanced over at Novak who was still furiously pacing. "I'm still here… What's the plan?" she texted.

Half a minute later, Eva's reply arrived: "Should be safe to come back now. Don't make eye contact with him."

Claudia did as she was told. "Well?" she whispered when she saw her cousin again, even though Novak was nowhere near.

"Alright, give me his phone," Eva commanded. Claudia handed it over. Eva promptly took out the battery, placing it down on a desk in the office. Claudia saw a piece of laminated paper on the desk that she hadn't noticed before. On closer inspection, she realised it was a layout of the hospital.

"I think you'd better sit out this round," Eva said grimly. "In fact, I'm going to put my foot down and say you're definitely staying in this office. It's better this way."

Claudia's eyes widened in alarm. "What are you going to do? I mean, shit, Eva, he's just doing his job!"

"There are some things that are bigger than just a story," Eva replied tersely.

"So what legal thing could you possibly be doing that needed to be hidden from me?"

"Look, Mr Novak will be fine."

"I'm 'fine' too, Eva. Hell, even Mum is 'fine'. It's all relative, isn't it?"

"Claudia, please don't…"

Claudia slammed her fist on the desk but sat down. "Whatever. I'm staying. Happy?"

"I'll be happy when you are. But it's all relative, isn't it?" said Eva softly. With Novak's empty phone in hand, she turned and left.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** I'm still alive! Sorry for the delay... Thanks emeraldeyes412, SassyCop, and Rugbygirrl for reviewing the last chapter. :)

* * *

Claudia slumped into the seat, feeling… well, she wasn't really sure how she felt. Frustrated. Defeated. Drained. Lonely. Confused. Tired. Under the wing of a cousin she barely knew, but was quickly discovering had some ruthless streak. Could Claudia expect the same treatment if she actually did her journalism degree and became a reporter like Novak? She let out a long sigh. Australia seemed light years away.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Dr Durant and a Hispanic kid about Claudia's age hurriedly burst into the room. "What's going on?" Claudia wondered aloud.

"Another cluster of patients in Dover, Delaware," Durant responded absently. "Ernesto works at the diner. He brought some swab samples that Dr Connor took."

"Hey," said Ernesto, still puffing slightly. He'd evidently been running to get to Durant at the hospital, which made sense of course, considering one man was already dead from… whatever this was. Claudia quickly poured a cup of water from the cooler in the room and handed it to Ernesto. "Thanks," he said, taking a big gulp.

"No problem. I'm Claudia." They shook hands.

"You a doctor?" Ernesto asked, as they both watched Durant test the samples.

"No, I'm just… observing their work for a while." _For how long?_ Claudia wondered. She didn't know if she could handle the brutality of this environment indefinitely, didn't know if she could live in America with her father, didn't know…

"What?" Durant exclaimed.

Claudia turned around. "What's up?" she asked.

"Nitrate poisoning," Durant murmured almost to herself before getting on the phone to Connor.

**####**

Durant was in the isolation ward getting increasingly frantic and frustrated when Eva returned to the office. The two cousins had a minor stare-off before Claudia asked quietly: "So, are you going to tell me where you've been?"

"I'm sorry about before," said Eva. "You were right in a way. We all have our jobs to do. Even Mr Novak." She picked up the hospital layout and pointed at what appeared to be some kind of basement area. "This is where I left him. I didn't want to resort to that, but my loyalty is to NIH and when Stephen Connor says no press he means it. Mr Novak will be fine. When the time comes, I'll make sure he gets this story before anyone else."

Claudia blinked and dragged up a half-smile. "I think I'm beginning to understand why there's such a love-hate relationship between journalism and public relations."

Eva grinned and pulled Claudia towards her embrace. "I know it's been hard for you getting caught in the middle of your parents'…"

"…Shit?" finished Claudia.

"You love that word. You said it to me earlier."

"It's a great word. I can swear a little in front of my cool American cousin, right?"

Eva laughed. "Sure. Anyway, I know it's been hard and we don't know each other that well yet," Eva continued. "But you're family and I want you to know that I'm always going to be here for you. Professionally and personally. And if you ever want to talk about it…"

"It worked!" Natalie interrupted them brightly, almost sprinting into the room with the good news. "Connor was right!"

"Connor's always right," said Eva, smiling. She squeezed Claudia's shoulder. "Guess we'll be flying back soon. Was that enough excitement for your first day?"

Claudia smiled back. "Shit yeah."

**####**

Connor and Frank soon returned to the hospital, and Claudia noted that Connor seemed… well, not relaxed, but certainly not as ice cold as when he'd left. She thought he might even have looked at her and kind of smiled, but she couldn't be sure.

Frank was immediately on the phone to chase up one last piece of the puzzle, while Connor and Durant began to explain to Eva and Claudia what had connected all the blue patients. All of them had ingested large doses of sodium nitrate in the form of saltpetre. They had all eaten the same breakfast and used the same salt shaker at the diner, which had been unwittingly filled with the saltpetre. They also all had alcohol in their system.

"Sodium nitrate deprives cells of oxygen, so does alcohol," Connor explained. "Put the two of them together, they were literally suffocating from the inside out."

Claudia shuddered to think that something so innocuous could make someone so sick. And in the case of Wes Douglas, dead in less than a day.

"The bag of salt came from the Greggson & Mann Food Plant in New Jersey," Frank announced, as he got off the phone. "They also process saltpetre. Somehow the two got switched."

"They ship it to the Dover site?" asked Connor.

"Plus a hundred other cities on the east coast."

"Get a list of Greggson & Mann customers now," Connor told Eva. "The story's spent the last 12 hours trying to stop, let it roll."

"Got it," said Eva. She looked down at Claudia. "Now you get to learn about press releases! But first I gotta go pick up Mr Novak. I think you should stay here again." A sly smile escaped her lips. "You never know, you might have to work with him someday and I wouldn't want him to see you and think you were in on his unlawful imprisonment."

Claudia nodded with a smirk, not objecting this time. "You did good work today, by the way," Eva added on her way out.

Claudia was about to sit down, when Connor approached her. "How was your first day, Ms Alessio?"

"Uh, yeah, good thanks," Claudia replied, taken by surprise – partly because Connor was actually acknowledging her existence, and partly because he'd remembered her name. "Very interesting."

Connor smiled – a definite smile, for the first time. "Just another day at the office," he said. "I'm sorry there's not a lot of sightseeing involved. Maybe Eva can show you around sometime. Do you have any plans for the weekend?"

"I don't know. I only flew in a couple of days ago. Might catch up on some sleep."

"That's a good idea. It only gets more exciting and tiring from here."

"How about you?"

"Well," Connor began thoughtfully, "Hopefully I'll get to spend some time with my family."

For some reason, Claudia hadn't imagined Connor with a family. "Do you have kids?" she found herself asking.

"A son. Jack. He's 12."

"Married?"

Connor turned away slightly. "Separated," he said.

"Sorry to hear," said Claudia. "My parents are, too. I'm really only in the US right now because of my dad."

Connor looked up. "What's it like for you? With your parents being apart, I mean."

Claudia shrugged. "It's fine, but I'm not exactly a kid anymore. But… I miss my mum, y'know."

"Yeah…" Connor gave her a completely unexpected pat on the shoulder before going out to check on his now-healthy coloured patients one last time.

Claudia pulled out her phone and scrolled down to her father's US number, staring at it for what seemed like an eternity. Then she put it away. She was probably going to see him again this weekend anyway. There would be plenty of time to talk, or not, then.

* * *

**A/N:** Thus concludes episode 1 (You're Not Alone). Not sure how many episodes Claudia's story will run for, but I do need to rewatch the next episode (In Bloom), figure out which scenes Claudia would be in, and fill the gaps. I'll also be able to write Miles into the next lot of chapters. Meanwhile, reviews are love.


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